Lanes of the Road
Warfighter
The warfighter lane is the least defined. The President is Commander-in-Chief, but the exact scope of his powers has seldom been the subject of a challenge before the Court. On the rare occasion when it has, the Court has seemed intent on preserving a balance of powers between the three branches of government. Each component within DoD has personnel responsible for managing and defending their respective computer systems and networks. When there is an attack on DoD networks, these personnel take those actions necessary to restore service and defend against the attack. Primarily, this involves notifying law enforcement of suspected criminal activity, counterintelligence elements if there appears to be a foreign espionage threat, and taking internal actions necessary to restore service and protect against subsequent attacks. The ASD\(C3I\) \(now NII\) Memorandum, Guidance for Computer Network Defense Response Actions, dated 26 Feb 03, outlines the limits of permissible actions by DoD systems administrators at the enclave \(base, camp, post, or station\) and Service levels. Once a threat rises to the level of a DoD threat, it falls within the authority of USSTRATCOM.
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